Category archives for Conservation

A man in a Speedo is no match for a curious sea lion. Extreme swimmer Lewis Pugh and his team came to that conclusion pretty quickly last Friday when one of the massive marine mammals began to stalk Pugh less than 200 meters into a planned one-kilometer crawl in the waters of Campbell Island, located…

A year after their award-winning film came out, the DamNation filmmakers share a look at the growing public support for “deadbeat” dam removal in the U.S. This past summer, a demolition crew used a battery of explosives to destroy the last section of the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River in northwestern Washington…

Jenny Nichols is a filmmaker focused on global conservation issues. Xavier Beam is standing in his backyard on the banks of the Peace River in British Columbia, Canada. He’s holding a fishing pole and shading his eyes to watch his younger brothers paddling in a tiny canoe. I ask him about the proposed Site C…

“We are wild creatures, and if you remove wilderness from us, you take away our human spirit.” The story of Canyonlands National Park, and the lands that border it, is a complex tale of political horse trading, pressures for resource extraction, and recreational opportunities. It is also a story of the Wild West, of a rugged…

The journey planned is rarely the journey taken. The Nobody’s River expedition team had no idea how true this would be as they prepared to leave for a two-month expedition in Mongolia and Russia. Today, the team released the trailer to their film that documents their journey along the Amur River, one of the few remaining free-flowing…

An elephant! Her leathery wrinkles are amazing—great texture. Must get a detail shot. Did we get a model release for that beautiful child? Yes, ok good. Who will be the main voice of the film? There is a pride of lions lounging under that tree. When will we charge our batteries next? Oh there’s an…

Two filmmakers went on a three-year adventure to understand what it takes to restore free-flowing rivers. It starts with removing deadbeat dams. In the summer of 2011, Colorado-based filmmakers Travis Rummel and Ben Knight hit the road in a borrowed camper van with a laundry list of dams, a quiver of cameras, and a dream…

When paddler/filmmaker Steve Weileman bottled his first sample of sea water off a remote, undeveloped section of the Alaskan coast, it looked transparent and pristine. Weeks later when Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (ASC) partner scientist Abby Barrows looked at the same sample under her microscope she found what she finds in more than 85 percent of surface sea…

“Why would you come to this place that God forgot?” asked Natalia. Her kind eyes and shockingly clear English made the dingy beach we had just landed on and Soviet-era landscape of Komsomolsk Na Amure feel suddenly more welcoming. I had asked myself a similar question many times during the two weeks before our arrival…

Every Thursday this June we have featured a different film from the MoveShake series. Catch the stories of Gregg Treinish, Alison Gannett, and Shannon Galpin. When you first meet Julio Solis, you may think he’s just another member of the Baja Vigilantes crew–and he probably wouldn’t have it any other way. But Julio has had…

This is part 4 of 4 in the Rios Libres video series. The goal of the series is to highlight four different aspects of the fight against five proposed dams in Chile’s Patagonia region. Each video is accompanied by articles written by experts in the field. A new video will launch each Monday in June.…

This is part 3 of 4 in the Rios Libres video series. The goal of the series is to highlight four different aspects of the fight against five proposed dams in Chile’s Patagonia region. Each video is accompanied by articles written by experts in the field. A new video will launch each Monday in June.…

Six exceptional individuals were honored last night at the National Geographic Society’s 125th Anniversary Gala celebration for their efforts to lead exploration, advance scientific understanding, conserve natural resources and expand knowledge of the world. At the sold-out event held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., National Geographic Society CEO and Chairman John Fahey…

This is part 2 of 4 in the Rios Libres video series. The goal of the series is to highlight four different aspects of the fight against five proposed dams in Chile’s Patagonia region. Articles written by experts in the field will accompany each video. The videos will launch each Monday in June. It was…

Each Thursday in June we’ll be featuring a different film from the MoveShake series. This week’s film is about Gregg Treinish, founder of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation. He is also a 2013 Emerging Explorer and 2008 Adventurer of the Year. Ghandi said to “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” But,…

This is part 1 of 4 in the Rios Libres video series. The goal of the series is to highlight four different aspects of the fight against five proposed dams in Chile’s Patagonia region. Articles written by experts in the field will accompany each video. The videos will launch each Monday in June. This video…

See more of Jim Whittaker in this video and portrait gallery. Read more about the state of Mount Everest in the June issue of National Geographic. The first time I met 84-year-old Jim Whittaker, a giant both in height (6’5″) and spirit, he was literally throwing around the heavy (and sharp) ice ax he used…

On this day 50 years ago, May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to stand atop Everest, a feat which made him a national hero. A few weeks later, May 22, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld made the daring first ascent of the West Ridge and the first traverse of the peak, electrifying…

When we think of the Colorado River, we think of its power and its beauty, running from the rugged peaks of the Rocky Mountains and twisting, turning, and splashing through seven western states and two countries. The Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon—a symbol as iconic to the United States as the bald eagle or…

Editor’s Update: Skiers JP Auclair, one of our Adventurers of the Year, and Andreas Fransson died in an avalanche on Chile’s Mount San Lorenzo on 9/29/2014. We will have more on this accident and their incredible lives later this week. Our hearts go out to their families and friends. See JP Auclair in the “street…

In 2010, photographer, James Q Martin and I joined forces to begin Rios Libres, a non-profit dedicated to keeping Chilean Patagonia wild. Reading about a proposal to place five major dams on the Baker and Pascua, two pristine rivers in the heart of Patagonia, inspired us to take action. We headed to Chile with an…

Imagine heading out for an adventure in your favorite forest or park only to find it’s been shut down. Closed for business. Off-limits. Left to fall into neglect and disrepair. Sound bad? It would be. And it could happen—if Congress fails to get its financial house in order before the end of the year. You’ve…

A snowboarding pioneer risked his career to usher in a new era of exploration in the world’s wildest mountain ranges. Vote for Jeremy Jones See photos of all ten Adventurers of the Year! “There is no longer anywhere in the world that I consider too hard to get to,” says big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones. In…

Among the world’s best big-wave surfers, a Chilean and conservationist turns in one of the best barrel rides of all time. Vote for Ramon Navarro See photos of all ten Adventurers of the Year in action! “In my dreams, I’d never thought a wave could be that perfect,” says Chilean surfer Ramon Navarro of the…

Picture this: You’re exploring a pristine backcountry area in a national park. You’ve been huffing up a ridge for some time and are eagerly anticipating the view. When you reach the top, you scan the sweeping valley below you … and see a cluster of houses. At first, you think you must have wandered outside…